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Kate Molleson follows our young composer as he seeks his fortune in different cities across Italy under the ever-watchful scrutiny of his ambitious father.

Domenico Scarlatti was well placed to build himself a glittering career in the music business. He was prestigiously talented and born into a family with powerful connections in the music business. His home city of Naples was a major centre for the fashionable new art form of opera. But there were challenges, too. Competition was fierce and musicians often found their fates helplessly tied to the fickle fortunes of their aristocratic patrons. On top of all that, Domenico faced another, distinctly personal, test to his career aspirations; he was working in the shadow of a much more celebrated Scarlatti – his own father! It would take several decades, and more than a few changes of direction, before Domenico finally found his right path, becoming one of the baroque period’s most significant composers. Today, he’s rightly revered for the extraordinary catalogue of over 550 keyboard sonatas he left to posterity. This week, Kate Molleson traces Scarlatti's story and looks at what else there is to discover in his legacy alongside his celebrated keyboard works.

In today’s programme, we meet Domenico as he takes his first job, working for his father among the musicians of the court chapel in Naples. It’s not long before father and son are both on the hunt for better prospects and they travel to Florence, Rome and Venice to find patrons worthy of their talents.

Sonata in D, K 96
Anne Queffélec, piano

Sonata in Dm, K 9
Ivo Pogorelich, piano

Sonata in E, K 20
Scott Ross, harpsichord

Antra, valles, divo plaudeant
Giuseppe Naviglio, baritone
Rosario Totaro, tenor
Leslie Visco, soprano
Valentina Varriale, soprano
Filippo Mineccia, counter-tenor
I Turchini, directed by Antonio Florio

Sinfonia in C
Sinfonia in G
Europa Galante, directed by Fabio Biondi

Sonata in Am, K 109
Sonata in A, K 279
Sonata in G, K 425
Anne Queffélec (piano)